The Art of Shut Up and Listen

The world all around us gives us clues on how to do everything we need to do, including becoming a better writer. The more obvious clues come from reading other authors, taking writing classes, talking out problem areas with fellow writers, reading books dedicated to the writing profession. There are other less obvious clues that come from our everyday lives.

The people around us, the dog next door that won't shut up, the co-worker that steals your desk supplies and blames it on someone else, the mother that won't stop giving helpful advice, the doctor that that gives you the eye and tells you to lose 50 pounds or else, the mail man that runs his mail truck over the freshly planted flowers in the front lawn. Stories are all around us begging to be told. The people parading through our lives are holding their breath to play the main character in our next story. Why not take these gifts and make use of them?

Understanding the Foundation of Plot

Most writers understand the basic equation that plot equals a story.

Plot = Story

But what is plot exactly and how can you break it down to the point where you can understand each moving part, so that the whole will come together in a moving body of perfection? There are actually three very basic things to know about plot and how it is conceptualized. This is done through 3 elements called idea, concept and premise. These three things are distinctly different from one another, but build upon one another to make the full idea of plot a thing of reality. If we know each of these steps of plot then we can better understand how it is created.

 

Does Nonfiction Have Plot?

Nonfiction and plot, do they really need each other? Can nonfiction dance alone, by itself without being partnered with plot? Some believe that because of the nature of nonfiction that it does not require plot, but you have to have a focus, don’t you? So wouldn’t the focus be the plot? In short, plot works in nonfiction to present a uniformed piece that draws the reader in and tries to convince them of something specific. 

In order to have good nonfiction then you must have a clear purpose. If you do not have a clear purpose then your nonfiction it is doomed to fail. A bunch of directionless information isn’t going to make the piece hold strong and it will falter.  It’s the purpose that keeps interest and gives it a driving force.

The Building Blocks of Plot

I recently became aware of a detrimental flaw to my works of fiction to find myself unable to complete many of my stories. I began to realize that my problem laid with my fundamental understanding of plot and so I decided to dive into research to try and find a way to fix this problem. During my journey that spanned over two months, I found a lot of helpful information and began taking notes- lots of them. I then decided that there may be others out there with my same problem and so began to write an article on plot, but there was a problem. There was way too much information to fit in a 500 to 700 word article, so I began a series of articles. Then a friend of my suggested putting the articles together to create an ebook, so here is the finished product of all that effort. I place it here for those who would like to read it. Hopefully you too will find some use for it. It certainly isn't a full comprehensive about plot, but it will at give you an idea of what good plot is and how to use it to get that story out from start to finish!

I have the free ebook posted on Google Docs. Check out the link at The Building Blocks of Plot.

A Breakdown of Plot Diagrams

Plot diagram is also called the structure of the story. It is the main outline of what is going on and everything else exists solely to support that structure. There are a couple of different types of plot structure but the basic one consists of Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution. Learning Through Listening explains each of the five elements of plot and even breaks down the Cinderella story to help make it even more understandable. Exposition sets up the story and lets the stakes become known, Rising Action is the problem and/or conflict the character attempts to resolve, Climax is where the story is at it's worst, Falling Action is where the character begins to solve the problem, while Resolution brings the story to a close in some manner. Exposition, Rising Action, and Climax (or beginning, middle and end) is what is called the 3 acts of a story, each plays an important part to the story.